Agency: Welfare Education Program Failing

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Other recipients weren't offered the same educational opportunity; they had to keep their focus on the job.

So which group earned more money in subsequent years and relied less on federal assistance?

Conventional wisdom would suggest the group that worked and went to college would do better. But a study being touted by the Bush administration's point man on welfare reform suggests the conventional wisdom is wrong.

"What this reinforces is the idea that, when it comes to welfare reform, nothing quite works like work," said Wade Horn, assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, part of the Health and Human Services Department.

Horn said he would like to see states take the study into account when developing their own welfare-to-work programs.

"We know from many other studies that quickly moving welfare recipients into full-time work is the most effective strategy in helping low-income families achieve self-sufficiency," he said.

Not so fast, say other welfare experts, and the study's own authors, who warn against sweeping conclusions.

The majority of the welfare recipients who agreed to take classes had math and reading skills below the seventh-grade level, said David Fein, a demographer with Abt Associates Inc. of Bethesda, Md., which conducted the study. Only about a quarter actually completed the program. It may have been too much to expect them to succeed at a junior college level, he said.

"The point is, can we really say we tested this kind of model if we didn't recruit the right people?" Fein said. "Maybe this model would work if you did recruitment right."

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